Ice skates

ABSTRACT

In an ice-skate of the kind having a longitudinally-extending tubular reinforcing member for the blade and a pair of cup-shaped support members extending from the tube to a bed-plate and a sole-plate for a skate boot, the lower ends of the cup shaped members are formed with flanges having a semi-cylindrical crosssection so that they wrap completely around the tubular member, up to the blade.

llnlted States Patent 1191 3,784,217 Staples 1 Jan. 8, 1974 [CE SKATES1,911,148 5/1933 Dunne 2120/1117 [75] Inventor: John staples SloughEngland 3,041,080 6/1962 COLltle 280/11.12 731 Assignee: Mitchel & KingSkates Limited, FOREIGN PATENTS 0R APPLICATIONS Slough, England 142,94410/1935 Austria 280/11.17

[22 Filed: Apr. 21, 1972 Appl. No.: 246,437

Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 26, 1971 Great Britain 11438/71US. Cl. 280/11.17 Int. Cl. A63c l/38 Field of Search 280/11.17, 11.12,

7 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1904 Johnson 280/11.17

Primary Examiner-Kenneth H. Betts Assistant ExaminerMi1ton"L, SmithAtt0rney--Arthur E. Dowell, Jr. et a1.

[5 7] ABSTRACT In an ice-skate of the kind having alongitudinallyextending tubular reinforcing member for the blade and apair of cup-shaped support members extending from the tube to abed-plate and a sole-plate for a skate boot, the lower ends of the cupshaped members are formed with flanges having a semi-cylindricalcross-section so that they wrap completely around the tubular member, upto the blade. 1

3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures I U I? 2 1 ICE SKATES This invention relatesto ice skates, especially skates for hockey players.

Such skates are usually constructed with a heavily constructed boot anda reinforced blade, with at least two support members extending upwardlyfrom the blade to the boot. In a typical construction the supportmembers are in the form of inverted, generally frustroconical cups whichare attached at their lower ends to a tubular reinforcing member whichextends along the length of the tube. The lower ends of the cupshapedmembers are usually attached to the sides of the tubular member by meansofextensions which are spotwelded to the tubular member, which is alsobeing spotwelded to the blade. The upper ends of the two cupshapedmembers are attached respectively to a heelplate and a sole-platebeneath the boot.

A disadvantage of this type of construction is that a large andundesirable load is imposed on the spotwelds, and there is only rather alow resistance to relative twisting between the cup and the tube.

It is an object of the invention to overcome these disadvantages, byproviding a cup-to-tube joint of greater strength and rigidity. I

A tube-skate of the' type described in accordance with the invention hasthe extensions of the cup-shaped members formed to wrap completelyaround the tube up to the blade. This strengthens the skate against sidethrusts and helps to relieve the spot 'welds from undue loads, and mayobviate the need for spot-welding to the tube, entirely.

Further strength and improved sealing of the joint can also be achievedby running soft solder into the interior of the cup during assembly.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of examplewith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a side elevation of part of a skate according to theinvention; and,

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged cross-section on the line ll ll of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the blade 2 of the skate has a reinforcingtube 4 attached to it be means of flanges 5 extending from the tube andrivets 6. The front end 8 of the blade is upturned. Deep-drawn cups 10are attached to the tube by means of extensions 12 of the cups whichwrap around the tube as shown in detail in FIG. 2, to a position wherethey abut the sides of the flanges 5 at 14. These extensions may bespotwelded to the tube as at 13.

Additional strength and sealing of the joint are achieved by runningsoft solder into the cup during assembly, as indicatedat 16.

Since the ends of the entensions l2 abut directly against the tubeflanges, they provide resistance to twisting of the cups relative to thetube and thus a substantial part of the load is taken off thespot-welds. The complete wrapping round of the extensions also improvesthe overall strength by producing an effectively double-walled tube.

The strength of this arrangement is such that the solder run into thecup during assembly may be sufficient to hold the structure together,and spot-welding of the tube, with the associated stress concentrationsit produces, may be avoided.

I claim is:

1. An ice skate comprising: a skate boot; a heel plate and a sole platefor the boot; a blade; a longitudinally extending tubular reinforcingmember having a pair of downwardly extending flanges fixed to the topedge of the blade; at cup-shaped support member extending between thetubular member and the sole plate; and a further cup-shaped supportmember extending between the tubular member and the heel plate; a pairof downwardly extending flanges at the lower end of each cupshapedmember, for attachment to the tubular member; wherein the downwardlyextending flanges form a cylinder completely surrounding the portion ofthe tube immediately below each support member up to the tube flanges,the cylinder having a longitudinal aperture through which the tubeflanges protrude; the diameter of the base of the support cup being lessthan the diameter of the tube, whereby the cylinder closely embraces themajor portion of the circumference of the tube below the cup member.

2. An ice-skate according to claim 1 further comprising a soldered jointbetween the cup flanges and the tube.

3. An ice skate comprising: a skate boot; a heel-plate and a sole-platefor the boot; a blade; a longitudinally extending tubular reinforcingmember having a pair of downwardly extending flanges fixed to the topedge of the blade; a cup-shaped support member extending between thetubular member and the sole-plate; and a further cup-shaped supportmember extending between the tubular member and the heel-plate; a pairof downwardly extending flanges at the lower end of each cupshapedmember, for attachment to the tubular member; wherein the downwardlyextending flanges form a cylinder completely surrounding the portion ofthe tube immediately below each support member up to the tube flanges,the cylinder leaving a longitudinal aperture through which the tubeflanges protrude; the diameter of the base of the support cup being lessthan the diameter of the tube, whereby the cylinder closely embraces themajor portion of the circumference of the tube below the cup member, andthe cylindrical flanges being spot-welded to the tube.

1. An ice skate comprising: a skate boot; a heel plate and a sole plate for the boot; a blade; a longitudinally extending tubular reinforcing member having a pair of downwardly extending flanges fixed to the top edge of the blade; a cup-shaped support member extending between the tubular member and the sole plate; and a further cup-shaped support member extending between the tubular member and the heel plate; a pair of downwardly extending flanges at the lower end of each cup-shaped member, for attachment to the tubular member; wherein the downwardly extending flanges form a cylinder completely surrounding the portion of the tube immediately below each support member up to the tube flanges, the cylinder having a longitudinal aperture through which the tube flanges protrude; the diameter of the base of the support cup being less than the diameter of the tube, whereby the cylinder closely embraces the major portion of the circumference of the tube below the cup member.
 2. An ice-skate according to claim 1 further comprising a soldered joint between the cup flanges and the tube.
 3. An ice skate comprising: a skate boot; a heel-plate and a sole-plate for the boot; a blade; a longitudinally extending tubular reinforcing member having a pair of downwardly extending flanges fixed to the top edge of the blade; a cup-shaped support member extending between the tubular member and the sole-plate; and a further cup-shaped support member extending between the tubular member and the heel-plate; a pair of downwardly extending flanges at the lower end of each cup-shaped member, for attachment to the tubular member; wherein the downwardly extending flanges form a cylinder completely surrounding the portion of the tube immediately below each support member up to the tube flanges, the cylinder leaving a longitudinal aperture through which the tube flanges protrude; the diameter of the base of the support cup being less than the diameter of the tube, whereby the cylinder closely embraces the major portion of the circumference of the tube below the cup member, and the cylindrical flanges being spot-welded to the tube. 